Re: UI Rantings [was: Re: gmc and file-selection mockups]

["Jesse D. Sightler" <jsight pair com>]

Paul Gear wrote:

> What i am saying here is that we need to consider the possibility that
> it is not necessarily counter-intuitive to put open and print in the
> same dialog box.  If it conforms more closely to the way people work,
> then it is not counter-intuitive.

Agreed 100%.

> I know when i am looking at my files, i often see another file that
> needs to be copied, moved, or deleted, and before i know it, i moved two
> files, deleted another, and renamed another.  This is the way my
> (admittedly twisted) mind works: it goes to several levels of recursion
> before returning to the task at hand.  I don't consider this
> counter-intuitive - YMMV.  ;-)

Hehe, maybe we're both nuts.  :)

> (BTW, under this scenario, i would think it best that the cancel button
> would only cancel the open/save, not all the file operations - they
> would be handled by a multi-level undo in the file manager.)
> 
> I think that there is an expectation in the user community that the line
> between open dialogs and file managers should be becoming finer and
> fainter.  People want to see little icons everywhere, and be able to do
> (mostly) the same thing to those little icons everywhere.
> 
> This expectation is not at odds with modern principles of software
> design.  In fact, it fits very closely with the OO paradigm: objects are
> encapsulations of predefined data and methods, and we can plug these
> objects together in any way, as long as we conform to their interface
> definition.

Agreed, and I do think that the object oriented comparison is a very
good one.

---------------
Jesse D. Sightler
http://www3.pair.com/jsight/